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Our section's high school feature page is coming back on Friday (the page took the extended summer school break one year early, actually).

The page will have a new name, The Final Cut, and a new look. The name plays off a coach making his or her final cut for a roster. And what's on the page will be what makes our final cut, as well.

The page will be geared toward the student-athletes playing the games. We hope they'll find it fun reading. For adults, we hope it's a better window into the worlds of high school students who play sports.

Check it out, and tell us how we're doing.

Yes, that's right, I'm back. I just discovered my forgotten password, allowing me to blog for the first time since, oh, the Ford administration. And since NCHSAA media relations guru Rick Strunk sent out the highlights of last week's spring board meeting too late for me to get this in my published high school notes, I wanted highlight one rule change by blog. You can read further Friday in this week's prep notes ...

High school wrestlers will no longer be allowed to exceed 55 matches prior to the conference tournament. And a team will henceforth be allowed to wrestle only one double-dual match (two team matches in one day) per season.

The issue, we're told, is that way too many wrestlers were finishing the season with 90-95 victories. Given that the top season records in the nation traditionally come in at about 75 wins, the high school association thought N.C. wrestlers were going overboard, or at least were being overworked.

I'll follow up on this from the coaches' point of view Friday, but at first glance, I have to say that most of those winning 90 times in a season are piling up 30- to 60-second wins, i.e. they're pinning people in the first period. So it's not a case of overburdened wrestlers in those cases. Begging the question: Was this rule change really necessary?

If there are any wrestlers out there, feel free to chime in on this issue.

A week ago, Northern Guilford opened the school's first-ever football practice. The Nighthawks, with only freshmen and sophomores, will play a JV-only schedule this year.

Other fall sports begin practice today at Guilford County's first new public high school since Southwest opened its doors in 1978.

It'll be a new and exciting adventure for Herk DeGraw, who has coached soccer for about 28 years at Grimsley. He's wondering if he'll have enough players in purple-and-silver to field a varsity and JV boys soccer team this fall. The Nighthawks' first practice starts at 6:30 tonight on the outfield of the Northern middle school's softball field. A makeshift arrangement, to be sure.

"I just hope my daughter's still talking to me after the season," DeGraw said.

Blair DeGraw, who played for Greensboro Day and East Tennessee State, will be one of Herk's assistant coaches.

Chatting with new Southwest Guilford football coach Scott Schwarzer today, and it sounds like he's in need of a new secondary coach already. Todd Shuping, who resigned as Grimsley's head coach in June, had joined Schwarzer's staff at Southwest. But he apparently has been named defensive coordinator at North Rowan. His departure also means Southwest loses one of its contenders for starting quarterback. Shuping's son, Richard, was competing for the job.

Schwarzer says athletic junior Cory Brown will likely start at QB in the spread offense the coach brought with him from High Point Central, where he was Todd Staley's offensive coordinator. He'll have a heck of a target in senior receiver Darrius Little.

Over at Southeast Guilford last night, it was great fun hearing the give-and-take between the Falcons coaches and players during a rigorous workout -- or, rather, the give-give-give.

Such as this from head coach Fritz Hessenthaler to an assistant: "Coach, next time someone stands up in my $4,000 chute, they're going to get their (rear end) kicked!"

Or this from assistant Lynn Coble to a slow-footed player: "Hey, are we on a coffee break here? I like mine with cream."

Lest you think the coaches are too hard on their players, when an offensive lineman drove through tough defensive end James Pegues, "Coach Fritz" shouted in delight: "Oustanding! Out-freakin'-standing!"

They're talking about unfinished business at Southeast these days, knowing they've got the pieces to avenge last year's third-round playoff loss to conference rival Eastern Randolph and chase a championship ring.

Read more on the upcoming high school season next week in the News & Record. The first official varsity kickoff of 2007 comes next Friday night.

Area high schools might be willing to make small concessions to the oppressive heat, but they're not about to cancel Friday evening scrimmages just because the thermometer is at 100 degrees around 3 p.m.

For most area football teams, tonight will be the first opportunity of '07 to run plays against another school's defense and to tackle people in different uniforms. They don't want to pass that up. So they're basically just delaying the start of scrimmages a half-hour to an hour, allowing the sun to set a bit before pounding on each other.

Here are the new start times for the high school scrimmages I was able to track down today:

* The Alamance County Jamboree at Burlington Williams is expected to start at 7 instead of 6, as originally scheduled. Page, Eastern Alamance and Winston-Salem Carver will be participating along with host Williams.

* Grimsley's scrimmages at Davie County have been pushed back from 6:30 to 7. The Whirlies will be competing against Davie, Morganton Freedom and North Iredell.

* The Cummings Kickoff Classic appears to be going on as planned at 5:30. The Cavaliers and Western Alamance will each scrimmage for about an hour against Andrews and Lexington.

* High Point Central AD Mike Cook says that scrimmages at A.J. Simeon Stadium will start at 6:30 instead of 6, with Ragsdale, Eastern Guilford, Parkland and the Northern Guilford JV team also playing.

* Word is the FNB Southeast Football Jamboree at Rockingham County HS will play as scheduled Saturday, no matter how hot it gets. Too much money involved to delay, postpone or cancel. Fortunately, temps are expected to drop to a cool and comfortable 90 degrees by tomorrow. The Jamboree will feature all four Rockingham high schools as well as Northeast Guilford, Southern Guilford, Southwest Guilford and Western Guilford. ... The 4 p.m. scrimmage between Reidsville and Northeast Guilford features what may be the area's two best varsity teams. Not that Jimmy Teague or Tommy Pursley will be showing much of their playbooks.

Word of advice to those planning to attend any of these events: Find shade and lots of water.

Surprisingly in a few cases, not so much in others, there remain five unbeaten high school football teams in the News & Record coverage area. Thus, the Mighty Nine poll stays unchanged at the top. The question now: Who can get through their conference schedule and enter the playoffs without a loss?

Reidsville? The Rams are 6-0 and should have little problem this week at West Stokes. The question here is: Can Eastern Guilford (Oct. 12) or Southern Guilford (Oct. 26) win at Reidsville if they catch the Rams on a slightly off-night? Doing it on the road will be tough. If Eastern keeps playing as well as it is on defense and Gerrod Herbin gets 100% healthy, I could see the Wildcats rolling into Community Stadium on a 4-game winning streak and giving it a go. Southern had a good win over a top-10 1-A team, West Montgomery, before last week's bye. William Graves and the Storm's linebacker corps are playing well, but I'm still a little more skeptical of their chances.

Western Alamance? At Northeast on Friday, at Dudley on Oct. 26. It could get interesting. It took a blocked punt to close out the Rams last year. This time, Northeast is really banged up, so it'll be interesting to see if the Rams can contain QB Donald Britt and WR Levon Curtis for four quarters.

The big news out of McLeansville: Standout QB Kendall Bratcher sprained a medial colateral ligament in his knee against Western Guilford on Sept. 21, didn't play a Southern Alamance and is questionable at best for Friday's home game against Western Alamance.

That will put a lot on freshman Maurice Harris' shoulders. It's your second varsity game, kid. It could take 40 or 50 points to beat the Warriors. Good luck. Northeast has also lost two halfbacks to injury and will be short-handed on defense. More on that in Friday's News & Record, plus an update on Bratcher.

Back to the unbeatens:

Grimsley? The Whirlies have lost stud athlete Keenan Allen for Friday's game at High Point Central because of a taunting ejection last week. Grimsley survived without QB Zach Maynard at Northern Durham -- winning in OT -- but beating the Bison without his brother could be a little trickier. Page is next week. If the Whirlies get caught looking ahead, look out.

Glenn? The Bobcats' wins get more and more lopsided each week, it seems. Carver next week appears to be their biggest obstacle in the Piedmont Triad 3-A.

Thomasville? This is turning into quite a story. Imagine another perfect season with what the Bulldogs and coaches Brown & Brown have gone through in the past few months. West Montgomery will be a tough test Friday, then a trip to Siler City to face Jordan-Matthews. Win those, and T'ville will be well on its way.

We know it was impossible to stay in suspense until Friday to see the N&R's latest Mighty 9 area high school football poll. So we began publishing it Wednesdays last week. And, because there's so much movement in the poll and we don't want you to have to wait until the paper hits the driveway, thought I'd unveil the poll online, with a few comments. My AP votes follow.

N&R MIGHTY NINE (coincidentally, this reflects my top 9, too)

1. Reidsville (6-0)
2. Western Alamance (7-0)
3. Grimsley (6-0)
4. Glenn (6-0)
5. Northeast Guilford (5-1)
6. Thomasville (6-0)
7. Dudley (6-1)
8. Ragsdale (5-2)
9. Eastern Guilford (4-2) *

Also receiving votes: Southern Guilford (4-2), Southeast Guilford (4-2), Ledford (5-2).

* The No. 9 spot is where we've seen the most turnover. It's basically reserved for the hottest team at the time. We've had Western Guilford, Ragsdale, Ledford, Southeast, Southern and now Eastern Guilford in this spot. The Wildcats jumped ahead of the rival Storm, catching them in an off week and winning impressively over Southwest Guilford, 41-21.

See below for my AP votes. Let me know if you feel there's too much local bias ... or not enough. Without being as familiar as I should be with schools in, say, Wilmington or Asheville, I try to be fair and balanced, maybe slipping a vote or two to a borderline area school that might otherwise be neglected by voters elsewhere ...

First off, I'll supply a sneak peek at my Mighty Nine poll for this week in high school football. It's the same as the overall voting. Don't believe me? Check Wednesday's News & Record or Thursday's RFS preps podcast with Jim Young and yours truly.

1. Reidsville (7-0) 2. Western Alamance (8-0) 3. Grimsley (6-0) 4. Glenn (6-0) 5. Thomasville (7-0) 6. Dudley (7-1) 7. Northeast Guilford (5-2) 8. Ragsdale (6-2) 9. Southern Guilford (5-2)

Not quite: Southeast Guilford (5-2).

Obviously, not a lot of movement at the top -- yet again. #1 Reidsville and #2 Western Alamance are just that good. They remain at the top of the state AP 2-A and 3-A polls, respectively, as well. More on the Warriors in a minute.

Grimsley is up to #3 with Northeast Guilford's loss to Western, and unbeaten Glenn is the new #4 going into its home showdown with Carver in the game to essentially decide the Piedmont Triad 3-A. The Whirlies, of course, will be playing Page -- considered by a few around here to be a pretty big rivalry game (note understatement) -- on Friday night at Jamieson.

As Pirates defensive lineman Jamar Lynch put it: "We can't come out there and just play around and tippy-toe. We have to go in there and bust them in the mouth and get it done." Straight to the point, the way we like it. The game should be a good one.

On to #5 Thomasville: Jordan-Matthews, playing at home, will likely be the Bulldogs' toughest test before the playoffs. Don't be entirely surprised if this is the week The Streak ends. Hey, coach Allen Brown noted a few weeks ago that the streak can't live on forever. We're not convinced ... yet. Neither are AP voters: The Bulldogs remain #1 in the state 1-A poll.

Dudley is #6 and takes the week off. Northeast drops to #7 and should rebound from last week's loss to now-hated Western Alamance with a home win over Morehead this Friday. The Rams go to Dudley in a week.

Ragsdale stays at #8. And back at #9 -- a position that has been held by six different schools in 8 weeks -- is Southern Guilford, coming off a 34-3 thumping of McMichael. That's three wins in a row for the playoff-hungry Storm.

OK, to follow up on the post-game shouting match in McLeansville last Friday: I have received a few emails and had some conversation with folks who were there or listened in. The consensus seems to be that Warriors coach Hal Capps was at least right to go for a first down, if not necessarily to hit NE with a surprise TD pass, up 21-14 with 1:42 on the clock and the Rams out of timeouts. I agree: Kneel-downs would not have put the game away, even though it was 2nd down and not 3rd, as Capps recalled after the game. Take a knee and assume 25-30 seconds off for each instance, and the Rams get it back with at least 20 seconds left. Albeit deep in their own end needing a TD.

Northeast's Tommy Pursley is an old-school coach who perceived a pass in that situation legal, but hardly ethical. It felt to him like someone was running up the score on him at the end of a hard-fought game. In the heat of the moment, he pointed fingers and said some things to Capps & Co. By now, cooler heads have likely prevailed. We'll give Tommy another day before calling ... just in case.

For those who follow high school football in the area, last week's clash between Western Alamance and Northeast Guilford produced a great game, as expected. What followed the game, an ugly exchange between two of the area's best and most respected football coaches, was not expected.

And, to their credit, Northeast's Tommy Pursley and Western Alamance's Hal Capps did not allow the hard feelings to fester. Pursley said he didn't call Capps directly because he was afraid the coach would hang up on him. Instead, he asked Western AD Carter Gerlach on Monday about setting up a meeting to hash out their differences. A sitdown, as they'd call it in Sopranos world. Coincidentally, Capps had asked Gerlach the same thing. Really, they each wanted to apologize for the misunderstanding.

So the coaches got together later Monday for about 10 minutes.

The controversy: The Warriors, up 21-14, threw a wide-open pass on 2nd-and-6 from Northeast's 29 with 1:40 left. They scored easily as the Rams expected QB Donald Britt to simply take a knee 2 or 3 times. Pursley told Capps after the game he thought it was a "low-class" move. After cooling off over the weekend, he realized he was probably in the wrong about Western's intentions.

"To me, it was sort of a slap in the face is how I took it," Pursley said today. "And obviously that’s not how he meant it. He was showing us respect by scoring. He thought if he gave us the ball back it could be like two years ago, and we’d come down and beat them."

So Pursley apologized. Capps, too, said he was sorry if it appeared to be a piling-on situation.

Did he fear Northeast would get the ball back and, even with less than a minute to go, march down and tie or win the game?

"Exactly," Capps said today as his Warriors prepared to face Bartlett Yancey and likely improve to 9-0.

Northeast (5-2) is home to Morehead tonight. The finish shouldn't be nearly as stressful.

OK, we've learned to expect anything and everything from the NCHSAA football playoff pairings, so I probably shouldn't have spit up my Cheerios when I saw that Charlotte Independce -- the national power, the school that won more than 100 straight games -- was visiting Page in the first round of the 4-AA playoffs this week.

Still, what a bizarre twist of fate.

Page figured to be the second best team in the Metro 4-A -- at best -- when the 2007 season started. But the Pirates stunned Grimsley and went 5-0 in the conference. After a slow start, they finished 7-4 overall. That didn't earn them a very high overall seed in the playoffs, which is why they're playing a team of Independence's caliber. They're the lowest-seeded conference winner at No. 7 in the West. Grimsley is seeded No. 8.

Kirby Stadium promises to be a fun place to be Friday, as Page will try to recapture some of its old playoff magic against this millenium's biggest in-state power. This is Independence's first road playoff game since 2000.

The Patriots have won state titles the past seven years and had a 109-game winning streak interrupted this September, when they lost to Elder High of Cincinnati, Ohio. They then won eight more games before losing their first in-state game. That came Friday against Matthews Butler, which won the Southwestern 4-A Conference with a 21-20 decision.

Independence coach Tom Knotts had a strange reason for not being on the sideline for that game. He reportedly assaulted an Indendepence fan/JV parent through a chain-link fence Thursday night after the Patriots saw their 70-game JV winning streak snapped. It's possible Knotts will remain suspended this week, which would add another odd twist to the Independence-Page game and -- who knows? -- maybe give the Pirates some sort of edge if Knotts is not calling the plays.

A few more high school football observations ...

The Charlotte Observer is reporting today that Independence football coach Tom Knotts will not face charges of simple assault against the relative of a Patriots JV player stemming from a postgame altercation last Thursday night.

But it is unclear at this time whether his suspension with pay from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system will be lifted in time for the architect of the seven-time state champions to be on the sideline Friday night at Page when Independence visits for a first-round 4-AA playoff game.

Stay tuned.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools announced this evening that Independence football coach Tommy Knotts will not coach Friday night's playoff game at Page. He'll resume his teaching and coaching duties Monday, the school system announced after completing its investigation Thursday.

Of course, he'd like to be preparing the Patriots for a second-round game at Matthews Butler next week. But there's always a chance Page (7-4) will send Independence (9-2) home with a loss, especially if Knotts' presence and play-calling are greatly missed. He began serving a suspension for a JV postgame altercation with a parent last Friday, and Indy fell to Butler 21-20 without him.

One thing I still can't believe is that a parent would heckle the coach who has won seven straight state titles in North Carolina's largest classification for bad play-calling. Then again, this guy who got into it with Knotts was from Philadelphia -- where they'll boo anyone, Santa Claus included -- and apparently didn't know the coach "from a can of paint," as his father told the Charlotte Observer.

The Greensboro Sports Commission brought us Monte Towe at today's Little Four luncheon and, speaking about a hundred yards from where N.C. State took down UCLA like Nixon in '74, the Wolfpack assistant coach was still visibly excited about the whole experience.

Towe's talk preceded the official unveiling of pairings for the 32nd Little Four Invitational, which will return to the coliseum Special Events Center from Dec. 26-28, about the time Disney on Ice is bringing its interpretation of "Finding Nemo" to the main arena. Something for the both the kids and basketball fans for the holidays, apparently ...

Anyway, here are the first-round pairings (with seeds to the left):

First-round matchups Girls No. 4 Page vs. No. 5 Southwest Guilford, 2:30 No. 3 Northwest Guilford vs. No. 6 Northeast Guilford, 4 No. 2 Dudley vs. No. 7 Smith, 6 No. 1 Grimsley vs. No. 8 Greensboro Day, 8 Boys No. 4 Northeast Guilford vs. No. 5 Page, 3:30 No. 3 Grimsley vs. No. 6 Smith, 5 No. 1 Greensboro Day vs. No. 8 Northwest Guilford, 7 No. 2 Dudley vs. No. 7 Southwest Guilford, 8:30

First comment: Kudos to Andy Durham for pointing out over at greensborosports.com that we now have two former ACC star players coaching in the Little Four: Ex-Tar Heel Curtis Hunter at Northeast Guilford and Duke alum Gene Banks now at Smith. Too bad they weren't paired against each other in the first round so we get the guaranteed rivalry matchup.

Before I criticize the seedings, I should mention in the full interest of disclosure that I was asked and did submit my own seedings to the tournament committee.

Really, you can't go wrong with Grimsley as the No. 1 girls team. The Whirlies have four players signing D-I scholarships this week and were last year's 4-A runners-up. Little surprised Page didn't end up seeded higher after winning last year's Little Four and with Boston College commit Jasmine Gill back.

But I think the real criticism in these things comes down to: We're all seeding a tournament based more on programs' reputations than what they really have back talent-wise. There should be a little more info-sharing before seedings are done to eliminate the guessing-game nature of the process, which might be unfair to an Northwest Guilford boys team that probably deserves better than a first-round matchup against Greensboro Day.

Northwest boys coach Mike Everett suggested today that this might be true in the case of the Vikings -- OK, really, he couched it a bit more strongly. But, he makes a good point: Northwest seems to almost be an automatic 8-seed in this tournament each year no matter what. By the coach's estimate, Northwest has won 7 of 8 against Grimsley since he's been at the school. The Whirlies are seeded third. They do have four starters back this year, for what it's worth (and I can't confirm Everett's math off the top of my head).

Greensboro Day beat out Dudley in the boys' final last year, and with Bruce Woodall and Jay Lewis leading the way, it's hard to argue the Bengals as top seeds even if, as coach Freddy Johnson points out, it's a pretty wide-open field.

Shameless plug: Look for our basketball season preview in the News & Record the day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 23. Now back to football ...

You'll have to forgive Northeast Guilford AD John Primm if he is visibly confused when you bring up the subject of high school realignment for 2009-13. The NCHSAA released its preliminary proposal for new conferences when the next four-year realignment kicks in, and while the association does a fairly admirable job of matching schools in nearest proximity at their classification level, Northeast has gotten a weird assignment twice in the past eight years. Weird seems to be the right word, anyway.

Based on the proposed conferences released Thursday, Northeast would join a six-team 3-A league with far-flung road trips to such places as North Forsyth, Ledford and Southwestern Randolph. Even the one fellow Guilford school, Southern, is about a 35-minute drive for the Rams. And that'll be the shortest trip for Northeast's sports teams.

Primm has put his own push-pins in the map and notes that Eastern Guilford and Northern Guilford are within 15 minutes of McLeansville, and the three Rockingham County schools that would join those two in a re-worked Triad 3-A network of eight schools are all within 35 minutes. Western Alamance is right down the road to the east.

Did anyone notice gas prices are over $3 now?

"I have very mixed emotions," Primm said Friday. "We are the epicenter of one conference that we're not in. And they've connected us to the periphery of this other conference."

His emotions are mixed because -- and not that Primm would say this himself at the risk of offending other schools -- Dudley and Western Alamance no longer would be conference rivals, which, by and large could mean more league titles in football for Northeast. In fact, the new league could be beneficial from a competitive standpoint in several sports.

As former N&R preps editor Charlie Atkinson notes, realignment generally sticks to this preliminary plan rather closely. But Northeast was an exception in 2001 and will likely be counterproposing a different plan for itself again when the NCHSAA opens the floor to alternate plans. In that initial '01 proposal, the NCHSAA managed to stick Northeast in a group with East Chapel Hill, Bartlett Yancey, Southern Durham and Oxford Webb. To avoid those nightmare road trips, Primm proposed the Rams join Dudley, Carver, Parkland, Glenn -- a difficult league, but closer to home -- and that was accepted.

Here are a few of my other observations, most of which appeared in today's News & Record:

* Guilford County will go from four 4-A schools to 10. Who knew the county was loaded with so many hugely-attended high schools? ... Dudley will move back up to the class of largest schools for the first time since 1997, and Southeast will be back after a four-year stint in 3-A. Growth at Ragsdale, Southwest and Western Guilford will push those schools to the 4-A level for the first time. The Hornets have changed classfications in each realignment since 1993.

* The five Greensboro city schools would be together in one conference along with Southeast Guilford and Southern Alamance. That's a lot of convenient, short drives. Well, except to the outskirts of Saxapahaw.

* High Point Central, Northwest Guilford and East Forsyth would join a conference with 4-A newcomers Ragsdale, Southwest, Glenn and Parkland. ... I think we could call this the PTI 4-A Conference because the airport seems to be at the epicenter of the proposed league.

* Randolph County will open two new 2-A high schools -- Providence Grove and Wheatmore -- that would cause four of its five existing county high schools to drop from 3-A size to 2-A. Asheboro would be the only school to remain at 3-A. Eastern Randolph would join Cummings in a conference, making for some interesting football matchups.

* Reidsville would find itself in a potentially tougher 2-A football conference with Andrews and Carver.

* Thomasville's run of athletics success in 1-A would come to an end if the Bulldogs return to 2-A for the first time since 1997.

The NCHSAA will hold regional meetings in January to let schools react to this proposal. After that, the association could come up with alternate proposals, then hear appeals and approve a final realignment plan in May

Looks like some good tit-for-tat eligibility finger-pointing in Charlotte this week, as both 7-time 4-AA state champion Independence and West Charlotte have had starting players removed from the teams before tonight's state semifinal game because of residency questions. Here's the story in today's Charlotte Observer. Discuss.

... and Dudley and Western Alamance have a chance to bring the Triad 3-A two state football titles, one with a lights-out defense, the other riding a dynamic offense to Chapel Hill.

Western got just enough out of its offense to beat Dudley in OT back on Oct. 26, 14-7. The Panthers haven't lost since, with Northeast Guilford -- also out of the Triad 3-A -- coming closest in an 18-13 2nd-round loss. Perhaps Charlotte Catholic will be Dudley's toughest test yet, but when they say they're "battle-tested," the Panthers have a very solid case.

The offense continues to make things interesting with drives stalling inside the 30 and, with no kicking game to speak of, no points. Penalties were the culprit at Oxford Webb on Friday, according to Jim Young's report. They did get one 50-yard TD run from QB Ricky Lewis Jr., who has been Dudley's most impressive ball-carrier of late.

On defense, Dudley survived thanks largely to a nice 2nd-half adjustment. Webb had found a size mismatch on 6-3 receiver William Alston's defender and scored on a jump-ball pass. Dudley moved 6-2 corner Kenny Okoro to Alston's side of the field and he blanketed him. A late goal-line stand, and the Panthers are on to the 3-AA final -- 3:30 kickoff Saturday at Kenan against the West regional champ, Charlotte Catholic (13-2), a 24-7 winner over Asheville TC Roberson.

Western Alamance (15-0) looks to win the 3-A state championship vs. North Gaston (12-2) after three straight heartbreaking losses in the final. If you know Hal Capps, you'll be rooting for the Warriors to get it done this time and avoid that Buffalo Bills comparison.

Capps' Warriors got here by hanging 50 points on Rocky Mount, though to give their defense due credit, Levon Curtis scored the final points on an interception return. Western also had to rally from a 22-21 halftime deficit. Showing some moxie in a tight East regional final.

The question for Reidsville, also 15-0 and looking for the school's 16th state title, is: How will the Rams react to a tight, tooth-and-nail game? Haven't even been close in the playoffs, blowing everyone out of the water by halftime (161-7 in the first half). So Dudley's done it with defense, Western with offense and Reidsville with domination on both sides of the ball. Jimmy Teague's spread offense is clicking like nobody's business, and even if the Rams give up some points to Shelby, I like their chances to win No. 16 and give a little payback for their '05 loss to Shelby in the 2-AA final.

OK, I've been slightly delayed on blogging the first in-season Mighty Nine basketball polls -- I blame our many area football teams in the state championships, but sorry to those who were impatiently awaiting an explanation for why I have both Page and Grimsley, boys teams that finished last season under .500, in the poll.

Well, first, here are the polls which first appeared in Tuesday's paper and will be out each Tuesday (except maybe over the holidays) through the end of the regular season. Records include last night's games:

MIGHTY NINE

BOYS
School / Record / LW*
1. Greensboro Day / 10-0 / 1
2. Dudley / 0-0 / 2
3. Ragsdale / 4-0 / 4
4. Trinity / 5-0 / 5
5. Glenn / 0-0 / 6
6. Andrews / 0-1 / 3
7. Reidsville / 0-0 / 7
8. Page / 3-0 / 9
9. Grimsley / 2-0 / --

Dropped out: Cummings (8).

*_Last week’s ranking

GIRLS
School / Record / LW*
1. Grimsley / 2-0 / 1
2. Bishop McGuinness / 3-0 / 2
3. Page / 3-0 / 3
4.Rockingham County / 3-0 / 4
5. Southeast Guilford / 3-0 / 7
6. Northwest Guilford / 3-0 / --
7. East Davidson / 2-1 / 5
8. Southern Alamance / 0-0 / 9
9. Eastern Guilford / 5-0 / --

Dropped out: Northeast Guilford (6), Ragsdale (8).

*-- Last week’s ranking

Boys poll: As per usual, Freddy Johnson has managed to squeeze in 9 or 10 games on to Greensboro Day's schedule before the public schools have gotten cranked up. The Bengals have won all of them and, in their blowout win of Mt. Zion that I attended last week, they looked very good in the process. Javan Mitchell, at about 6-7, has given them a legitimate inside presence. Dudley is yet to play -- a game against Hillside was postponed, so the Panthers open at home Friday against rival Smith and their new coach, Gene Banks.

Ragsdale is 4-0 after last night's 79-63 win over Grimsley, as the triumvirate of Wally Jones-Jay Canty-Ladarious Canty makes the Tigers a definite team to keep an eye on. They're up from No. 4 to No. 3 this week. Trinity knocked down Andrews 45-42 last week. Page was 10-17 last season but has looked good in its 3-0 start and appears to have a solid lineup that should keep the Pirates in or on the cusp of the poll all season. Grimsley, after a 2-0 start, was handled pretty easily by Ragsdale this week, so perhaps its stay in the Mighty 9 will be short-lived. As we showed in the football poll, we like that No. 9 spot to be a rotation of the week's hottest up-and-coming team. Maybe next week it'll be Northern Guilford, Stan Kowalewski's team of fabulous freshmen and sophomores. The Nighthawks are 3-0, but we'll wait and see.

On the girls side, Grimsley has been strong early but will have to beat Page twice and Northwest Guilford along the way to stay unbeaten, and at the top of the poll. Bishop McGuinness is lurking at No. 2. Northwest has jumped in at No. 6 after Northeast Guilford dropped a couple of early games, including one to Eastern Guilford, which showed it's a team to watch after a 5-0 start. The Wildcats also beat Williams and are No. 9 with a bullet. Southeast Guilford looks sharp early with a solid win over Anna Freeman and East Davidson.

It's interesting to look at the three different perspectives of area high school teams on the cusp of football state titles. All are chasing the same dream, basically, a championship that these teenagers can brag about to their grandchildren many years from now. But Dudley, Reidsville and Western Alamance are three distinct teams with different communities -- from city to small-town to rural/suburban -- and much different football histories.

First, a look at Dudley. In Steven Davis, you have a man who is taking the Panthers to the 3-AA final for the second time in his four years as head coach. They also went in '02 when he was Vic Floyd's defensive coordinator. But Dudley is yet to win an NCHSAA title, and to do that Saturday against Charlotte Catholic would be enormously significant for a school that has been a state powerhouse the last 10-12 years in basketball and has fared well at the state level in track and field but has not won a football state title since 1951, pre-desegregation. Ed Hardin will have more on the what the Panthers' title run -- and high school football in general -- means to that tight-knit community in Saturday's News & Record.

Game time is 3:30 p.m. at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill.

Western Alamance coach Hal Capps calls Dudley's defense the best he's seen in 10 years, and we don't dispute it. I'd like to see the Panthers' offense not only drive to Catholic's 20 but find a way to put up some points. That would take some pressure off the D, which has come up big all season.

Reidsville and Shelby (7:30 p.m. at Carter-Finley in Raleigh) isn't just a rematch of the 2005 2-AA state final. It's a matchup between two of the state's proudest 2-A football programs. Add Clinton, and you've got a historical triumvirate. The Rams and Golden Lions share a proud history deep in championship victories. Reidsville's won 15; Shelby has 6, plus 4 Western NC titles. They even share a common mascot: Before they were the Rams, Reidsville was the Golden Lions from 1927-69, when the school merged with Booker T. Washington during integration.

Both schools even have outstanding Web sites devoted to football: Reidsvillefootball.com and home of the "True NC high school football dynasty".

We like Reidsville's chances to win No. 16 Saturday and avenge that '05 loss. The Rams' offense, which runs the ball so effectively out of the spread, is just that good at 49.5 points a game. And their defense will likely keep Shelby from putting up big numbers out of the double-wing attack, especially if the Rams keep forcing turnovers at the rate they've been doing it in the playoffs.

Saturday morning, Western Alamance tries to complete a perfect season and end a frustrating streak of losses in the 3-A final. After three tough defeats in a row, even the good-natured Hal Capps is growing tired of talking about the past. The Warriors' coach is confident that his senior-loaded team has put the letdowns behind them and will put North Gaston away in this one even though they are a banged-up team.

This looks like the year. May Capps' boys enjoy a blowout victory and endure much less stress in the final minutes.

Nice timing on the Carolina Panthers' upcoming N.C. high school coach of the week. The Panthers have selected Steven Davis just in time for the Dudley High coach to lead his Panthers into Saturday's 3-AA state final against Charlotte Catholic. The Carolina Panthers also have Northeast Guilford offensive tackle Michael Via honored at their Web site as a "Community Captain."

Here's the article Tyler Wessel did for the Panthers' Web site on Davis:

By Tyler Wessel

The Carolina Panthers have named Coach Stephen Davis of James B. Dudley High School (Greensboro, NC) as a 2007 Coach of the Week recipient. The program recognizes outstanding high school coaches that have a positive influence in the communities and schools which they serve. In addition to receiving this award, a $1,000 donation from the Panthers and the National Football League will be made to the school’s athletic department.

In 2004, his first year as head coach at Dudley, Coach Davis received the State 3-A Exemplary Award from the NCHSAA for the most disciplined team in the state. He points out that the discipline started early on in his time at Dudley.

"We held one of those overnight camps for the players," says Davis. "After I told them several times to go to sleep, I took them out to the field and made them do 500 up-downs at 4:00 in the morning."

"I was going to have them call their parents to come pick them up, but some of the seniors came to me and talked me into letting them stay. That showed me they really wanted to be part of a great team and do what it takes to succeed."

In that first year, Davis led those Panthers to the State 3A Finals.

The on-field success has continued during Davis' tenure at Dudley. In 2007, he has led the Dudley Panthers to a 12-3 record and a berth in the 3-AA state championship game. Since taking over the program in 2004, the Panthers have averaged 11 wins each year. He was named the Greensboro News & Record Guilford County Coach of the Year after winning a school-record 13 games in 2004.

In addition to the on-field influence that he has had on his team, Coach Davis has also ensured that he and his team stay involved in the community. In addition to scheduling his own speaking engagements, Davis has also joined some of his players to visit elementary schools to speak to the children.

"I usually start out talking to the kids about the importance of education and listening to your parents," says Davis. "The players usually talk about the fun stuff kids have questions about …mainly about football."

Davis' influence has also extended to the entire student body at Dudley High. He has participated in a school counseling program in which he serves as a mentor to many non-football students. He checks the students' attendance, grades, and provides guidance for students who may need direction. He has also been instrumental in school fundraisers, from car washes to starting a donation basket for clothes or school supplies for less fortunate students.

The Carolina Panthers would like to congratulate Steven Davis and the Dudley Panthers on their great season and wish them continued success in the future.

OK, who out there was NOT expecting a shootout today between Western Alamance and North Gaston, two teams scoring over 40 points a game this season?

Guess what? It's a shootout. At halftime, the Warriors lead 34-24. But the lead hardly feels safe. Not after North Gaston QB AJ Blue and Princeton Brooks put up huge rushing numbers by flying through huge holes up the middle in the first half. They combined for 286 rushing yards and 3 TD's.

Of course Western was busy putting up 361 yards of offense, with Levon Curtis rushing for 69 and a TD and scoring two on long pass plays while totaling 150 yards receiving.

In the 5 minutes it took me to type that, the Warriors got a nice long kick return from Kenneth Lindsay and QB Donald Britt went in from 4 yards. Western, 41-24.

Warriors coach Hal Capps decided at one point in the first half that his best defense was an onside kick. You figure: 50-50 chance we get the ball back and keep AJ Blue off the field for a few minutes. They got it but ended up punting. Still, three valuable minutes of rest for Western's defense.

Now let's see if they've made halftime adjustments and can close up the middle. The Warriors have good speed at linebacker and do a good job of stopping plays to the perimeter. But they better keep the lanes closed inside or else ...

Here's an example of what Britt and his teammates have been hearing all week: A woman came up to him Friday night at the Food Lion and said, "We're not going to have any of this losing stuff tomorrow, are we?"

For those just tuning in, the Warriors have been in the 3-A final four straight years. Heartbreak visited Capps' team the previous three. They'll try to win the school's first football state title in the next hour or so.

While I'm thinking of it, if you want to follow the game from home in the Triad or Alamance County, I highly recommend the radio coverage of WPCM-920. Byron Tucker and his crew do an excellent job of calling the high school game and really seem to know and enjoy each other a lot. That helps make their call of the game very listenable.

Well, so much for defensive adjustments at halftime. Princeton Brooks takes an inside handoff and cruises untouched through the middle of Western's line, rumbling 90 yards for a TD. The Warriors' lead is down to 48-36 early in the fourth quarter.

North Gaston isn't having any luck with onside kicks but it's still getting back into the game. That's also without much of a passing game.

The two teams have now combined for 958 yards, a state record since the finals went to neutral sites in 1989. That breaks the record set in 2001 when Albemarle won the 1-A title 66-28 in a game with just over 900 yards.

And another update: Onside kick fails as Kenneth Lindsay gathers it in at the 50. Western picks up two first downs, and then on fourth-and-1 from the Wildcats' 3, Levon Curtis takes a handoff around right end, scoring easily. At 55-36 and 7 1/2 minutes left, is the lead safe?

I really don't know. Stay tuned. One thing I do know: This game is going to go over 3 hours easily. That might be another state record. It's like watching a Yankees-Red Sox ALCS game.

In a game that set modern-era records for points and combined yardage, Western Alamance has won the 3-A state championship 62-36 over North Gaston. It was truly an offensive shootout from the start.

In case I can't get the story posted on our Web site sports page (having technical difficulties right now), here's the early-early edition game story:

By JEFF CARLTON

CHAPEL HILL _ This time, Western Alamance wasn’t stopped a yard short. No 70-yard trick play did in the Warriors. And there was no overtime interception to deny them the 3-AA state title.

In their fourth try in four years, Hal Capps' Warriors decided they would score however many points were necessary to bring the championship trophy back to Elon. Actually, they scored a few more than they needed, turning away North Gaston in a 62-36 shootout Saturday at Kenan Stadium.

"It's unbelievable," Capps said after Western claimed the school's first NCHSAA football state title. North Gaston is an outstanding team, but we were on a mission and didn't want to be denied."

The teams set modern-era state finals records by combining for 98 points and 1,130 total yards. No wonder, then, that Capps attempted two onside kicks, even while playing from ahead the entire day. And that helps explain why North Gaston coach Bruce Clark went for it on fourth-and-2 from his own 36 with a fake punt. The Wildcats (12-3) trailed 41-24 late in the third quarter at that point.

The fake failed, and Britt made quick work of the Wildcats on a short field.

The victory capped a perfect 16-0 season for Western Alamance, which was ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press state 3-A poll throughout the season.

The Warriors came to Chapel Hill averaging 40.5 points a game. Offensive coordinator Jeff Snuffer, who lost his brother Kevin to cancer Thursday, said he knew they'd have to score a lot of points to match a North Gaston attack scoring about the same per game.

Senior receiver Levon Curtis said coaches asked the offense to put up 60 points. No problem. Quarterback Donald Britt realized early that Curtis would be instant offense any time he touched the ball and got it to him often.

Britt hit Curtis on a 40-yard score less than five minutes into the game. North Gaston's fabulous QB, North Carolina recruit A.J. Blue, answered with a 65-yard scoring run up the middle. That would be the soft spot in Western’s defense all game.

Curtis came back with an 18-yard TD run and, before the first quarter was finished, he scored on a 70-yard pass on which Britt hit him in stride on a deep route.

Curtis was named MVP of the game after totaling 96 rushing yards and 153 yards on seven catches. Britt threw for 226 yards and ran for another 138. His only blunder was an interception with Western driving deep into Wildcats territory. Instead of blowing the game open, North Gaston went 76 yards, and Blue scored his second TD to cut the lead to 48-30 late in the third quarter.

Plenty of time. Princeton Brooks’ 90-yard dash made it 48-36. But Western kept coming, and put the game away with two more touchdowns.

Brooks finished with 269 rushing yards, Blue with 193. It wasn't enough to match Curtis, a man on a mission.

"In our quarterback meeting, we kind of knew what we wanted to do on the perimeter," Britt said. "We just wanted to get the ball to Levon and let him run."

Contact Jeff Carlton at 373-7065 or jcarlton@news-record.com

No chance to blog during the game, unfortunately, and I'm having difficulty getting my story posted online, but rest assured Dudley fans, Ricky Lewis Jr. has led the Panthers to the promised land. The defense was passable, but the passing game was unbelievable.

Lewis, a junior, was named the game's most valuable player after rushing for 150 yards and the Panthers' first touchdown and going 7 of 10 through the air for 196 yards and three scores. That came a week after completing 1 of 5 passes for 7 yards at Oxford Webb.

"They came prepared," Lewis said of the Cougars, "but we came even better (prepared) than we thought we would. Everybody came prepared to play: The O-line, D-line, offense _ we just came ready."

Plenty of movement in both Mighty Nine polls this week.

We'll start with my area boys basketball poll first. Dudley's finally taken the game to the hardwood, beating Smith 71-61 Friday and having to squeak out a tight game for that 1-0 start. No. 1 Greensboro Day suffered its first loss, to a Raleigh Ravenscroft team that gave the Bengals some trouble with its size. That's a warning for this weekend, when Christ School's tall timbers come to town. Note that unbeatens Trinity and Page are fast-climbing while Glenn's 9-point loss to East Forsyth leaves the Bobcats on the verge of dropping out.

Here's the full poll, with last week's results, and this week's games listed for each school:

MIGHTY NINE

BOYS
School / Record / LW*
1. Greensboro Day / 10-1 / 1
LW: Lost to Ravenscroft 68-64, def. Hope Christian.
This week: Fri. vs. North Raleigh Christian, Sat. vs. Asheville Christ School.

2. Dudley / 1-0 / 2
LW: Def. Smith 71-61.
This week: Friday at Smith.

3. Trinity / 8-0 / 4
LW: def. Red Springs 84-63, def. Davie 72-53, def. S. Guilford 63-39.
This week: Tues. at HP Central, Wed. vs. Randleman, Thur. vs. Andrews.

4. Page / 5-0 / 8
LW: def. Reynolds 79-70 (OT), def. Ragsdale 89-67.
This week: Fri. vs. E. Randolph.

5. Ragsdale / 4-1 / 3
LW: Def. Grimsley 79-63, lost to Page 89-67.
This week: Tues. at Andrews, Friday vs. SE Guilford.

6. Reidsville / 1-0 / 7
LW: No games
This week: Tues. vs. Grimsley, Fri. vs. Rockingham Co.

7. Andrews / 2-1 / 6
LW: Def. E. Randolph 72-45, def. Lexington 57-48.
This week: Tues. vs. Ragsdale, Thur. at Trinity, Fri. at HP Central.

8. Grimsley / 4-1 / 9
LW: Lost to Ragsdale 79-63, def. N. Davidson 62-38.
This week: Tues. at Reidsville, Fri. vs. W. Forsyth.

9. Glenn / 1-1 / 5
LW: Def. West Forsyth 87-81, lost to East Forsyth 67-58.
This week: Thur. vs. Atkins.

Dropped out: None.

David Price's first comment to me after his Dudley team fell to Greensboro Day in the Little Four final Friday: "OK, you can put them back at No. 1 now."

He caught himself, remembering that I never actually released a Mighty Nine poll Christmas week, meaning the Bengals remained at No. 1 even after losses to Ravenscroft and the Christ School. Not that early-season rankings mean much but I do feel kind of bad for not giving the Panthers at least a short stay at No. 1. Dudley was in prime position to move up, but with a not-so-bad loss to nationally ranked Oak Hill and a tough defeat to GDS, it's hard to see a climb from No. 2 now. I'm off to see Trinity tonight to see how Tim Kelly's Bulldogs (13-1 with only a loss to Raleigh Wakefield) look against another Mighty Nine mainstay, Andrews. We'll try to post a New Year's Mighty Nine (boys AND girls) by Friday.

Andrews is coming off a thrilling 65-63 win over EJ Abrams-Ward (35 points) and Thomasville in the Wachovia Classic's American bracket finals. Or was that the National bracket? Stan Kowalewski said today that the tournament will be leaving High Point for Northern Guilford -- where he is now boys varsity coach -- in 2008. You can read more on that in my Friday high school notebook. The Nighthawks (6-3) made a strong showing in this year's event, giving Thomasville a good game in the semifinals, and they promise to be really tough next year when point guard Jonathan Frye is a junior and 6-7 Jacob Lawson is bigger and stronger as a sophomore.

Also, how about Southeast Guilford sweeping boys and girls titles Monday in the NewBridge Christmas Classic at Ledford? The Falcons girls (9-4) are looking particularly formidable.

That's right, call me bold or call me audacious, but I have indeed moved Trinity to the top of the Mighty Nine boys poll after the Bulldogs went to 13-0 with a convincing victory over Andrews on Wednesday night. My story on Trinity's impressive start elicited a hilarious email response from Asheboro coach Brian Nance, whose team plays Trinity again Jan. 17.

From the story:

"Hey, these boys ain't Asheboro!" Kelly bellowed to his players. "They're not going to quit."

So Nance's subject line was this: I surrender.

Calling himself General Cornwallis, Nance went on to thank me for providing him with pregame speech material when his team gets its shot at redemption for last week's 86-49 loss to Trinity.

Good stuff.

Of course, we made Tim Kelly's career record even more remarkable than it already is. Forgetting the typo, Friday's story should have him at 363-128 in 18+ seasons.

Here's the new boys poll, which will be updated again on Tuesday:

1. Trinity 13-0 3 (last week) / 2. Greensboro Day 16-2 1 / 3. Dudley 9-2 2 / 4. Ragsdale 10-2 5 / 5. Graham 8-0 NR / 6. Andrews 9-2 7 / 7. Grimsley 9-3 8 / 8. Williams 8-1 NR / 9. Page 8-3 4. Dropped out: Reidsville (was 6th), Glenn (was 9th).

Quick explanation on the change at the top of the poll: Trinity is one of two area teams that remain unbeaten -- the other, 8-0 Graham, went from unranked to No. 5 after beating Cummings 80-79 last week -- so it slid up from No. 3. It would be easy to leave Greensboro Day at No. 1 after it beat No. 2 Dudley (now 3) in the Little Four finals, but I dropped the Bengals a spot because of losses to Arden Christ School and Raleigh Ravenscroft before the holidays and after our last poll update. Christ School, with its three tall-tower Plumlee brothers, is probably the best private-school team in the state, so that 59-55 loss alone couldn't knock GDS down from No. 1. But paired with a loss to Ravenscroft, I felt justified.

Dudley held its own with Oak Hill in Arizona on Dec. 22. It would be great if we get to see the Panthers take on Trinity again this March -- the Bulldogs beat Dudley for the '04 3-A state title.

There are a few key games in the next few days that could shake up the rankings: No. 8 Williams is playing Greensboro Day and High Point Central faces No. 6 Andrews in two hours. Trinity is at No. 5 Ragsdale on Monday. Two other big games tonight: Reidsville, with its state-champion football players now in basketball shape, at Grimsley; and Northern Guilford at Northeast, which is just on the outside of the poll despite two wins over No. 9 Page. Looking at the whole picture, the Pirates seem to be the better team right now despite their two close head-to-head losses to the Rams.

Complaints and other comments welcome.

Sadly, the AP is not in the basketball poll business as they are for high school football. For understandable reasons; no offense intended, Aaron Beard.

But I am still participating as a voter in statewide polls being administered by Deana King at NCPreps.com.

Here are this week's polls (note that Trinity and Dudley are 2-3 in the 3-A boys poll and Grimsley is almost in a dead heat with Wakefield for No. 1 in the 4-A girls poll):

1-A BOYS

1. Mount Airy 14-0 (8) – 133
2. Cherryville 12-1 (1) – 114
3. Thomasville 8-1 (3) – 109
4. North Edgecombe 8-0 (2) – 106
5. Winston-Salem Prep 14-5 – 84
6. Hendersonville 10-1 – 75
7. Trask 10-1 – 59
8. Albemarle 9-2 – 26
9. Princeton 10-3 – 19
10. Pender 10-2 – 15

HONORABLE MENTION: Polk County (10-4) – 10; Louisburg (8-3) – 10; Hayesville (10-3) – 4; Camden County (8-2) – 3; South Robeson (8-2) – 1; Jordan-Matthews (9-5) – 1;

Well, unless you're the unbeaten Grimsley girls.

On the boys side, Trinity suffered its first loss last Monday at then No. 4 RAgsdale, 58-55, and slipped from the top spot to 4th, behind Ragsdale. Yes, the Tigers have losses to now-unranked Page and No. 9 Andrews, but when in doubt, I look at head-to-head results. For now, that puts RAgsdale at No. 3 behind Greensboro Day and Dudley, which have returned to the top two spots. Hard to see those two losing again in the regular season, though Dudley (10-2) still must face Northeast Guilford (9-5) at least twice, including Tuesday night at home. Ragsdale still has to visit Trinity (Feb. 1), which should be warmly greeted this Thursday at Asheboro after Blue Comet fans apparently took offense at coach Tim Kelly's crack about their team's late-game effort in a holiday tournament.

Here's the boys Mighty Nine for this week:

BOYS School / Record / LW* 1. Greensboro Day / 19-2 / 2 LW: Def. Durham Academy 63-43 2. Dudley / 10-2 / 3 LW: Def. Morehead 58-44, def. Northern Guilford 64-50 3. Ragsdale / 14-2 / 4 LW: Def. Trinity 58-55, def. Randleman 77-33 4. Trinity / 14-1 / 1 LW: Lost to Ragsdale 58-55 5. Graham / 12-0 / 5 LW: Def. Science & Math 107-33, def. E. Alamance 97-66, def. Northwood 73-52 6. Grimsley / 12-3 / 7 LW: Def. HP Central 62-52, def. East Forsyth 55-47 7. Thomasville / 8-1 / 9 LW: Def. West Montgomery 71-47, def. Jordan-Matthews 83-75 8. Cummings / 9-2 / NR LW: Def. Science & Math 93-51, def. Williams 72-60 9. Andrews / 9-3 / 6 LW: Lost to Glenn 62-54

Dropped out: Williams (9).

Notice Graham and Cummings are both feasting on a suspect Mid-State 1-A/2-A Conference. Graham has a close win over the Cavaliers, who just bumped Williams out of the poll with a 72-60 verdict Saturday. To be fair, Northwood has done OK this season, but the Chargers did just have it handed to them by Graham, 73-53, on Friday. They play Cummings on Tuesday night.

With Page struggling since Christmas, Grimsley seems to have become the clear front-runner in the Metro 4-A.

Which leads us to the girls poll. Page and Grimsley tangle Friday. Both have played very well since the Little Four, as has Northwest Guilford, which remains No. 2 in the Mighty Nine behind the Whirlies. Here's the latest poll:

GIRLS School / Record / LW* 1. Grimsley / 16-0 / 1 LW: Def. HP Central 62-33, def. Dudley 54-35, def. East Forsyth 60-34 2. Northwest Guilford / 15-1 / 2 LW: Def. Smith 55-34, def. HP Central 61-43 3. Bishop McGuinness / 12-3 / 3 LW: Def. North Stokes 58-15, def. East Wilkes 60-47 4. Ragsdale / 13-2 / 4 LW: Def. Trinity 65-31, def. Randleman 64-40 5. Page / 12-2 / 5 LW: Def. East Forsyth 56-27, def. Smith 44-38. 6. Graham / 12-0 / 6 LW: Def. Eastern Alamance 75-56, def. Northwood 78-24 7. Rockingham County / 14-1 / 7 LW: Def. Northern Guilford 71-38, def. Western Guilford 63-32 8. Southeast Guilford / 13-4 / 8 LW: Def. Asheboro 65-24, def. SW Randolph 63-41 9. East Davidson / 13-2 / 9 LW: Def. North Rowan 72-32, def. Central Davidson 57-15

Dropped out: None.

*-- Last week’s ranking

Two dangerous teams are lurking just outside the poll: Glenn (11-2) and Dudley (8-4), whick knocked off Rockingham County on the road but came back to earth a bit with the loss Thursday to Grimsley. Honestly, an unbeaten season would not be a stretch for Trumae Lucas and the Whirlies. Deep, athletic and senior-loaded, they're not prone to significant letdowns.

As always, any comments or complaints about my very unscientific rankings are welcome.

The road-weary basketball teams of Northern Guilford High were getting pretty excited about playing their first games in a home gym that they've only been allowed to get a 15-minute look at so far. But the fire marshal won't let them open Friday against Morehead as had been tentatively scheduled. Coach Stan Kowalewski said the Nighthawks will play those varsity games at the Northern middle school next door at 6 and 7:30. The new grand opening will come next Tuesday vs. Western Alamance.

The Northern boys will be coming off a MLK holiday matchup Monday against Mt. Zion Academy's postgraduate team (6 p.m. at the coliseum; Greensboro Day meets Page at 3 in that Scholastic Classic lineup).

By the time they get a true home game, Kowalewski's team will have played 15 games off campus and one in Northern's middle-school gym. The good news: Their last 7 conference games are at home and they're currently residing in 2nd in the league.

While we're talking about schedule changes, Dudley coach David Price says that Montrose Christian, the Maryland private-school power that was scheduled to play the Panthers in North Carolina on Saturday, canceled on the game last week. Montrose was unable to travel two states away as part of its acceptance into Maryland's public-school association, Price was told.

Looking to see Dudley in a marquee matchup. Well, if tonight's game against Northeast Guilford doesn't do it for you, then stop by the Panthers' gym next Saturday (Jan. 26) when 2-
A state-champion Cummings visits. The girls start at 6, boys at 7:30.

So, as I was watching Duke beat Maryland last night, it occurred to me just how many coaches from the K coaching tree all came together to scout the MLK Scholastic Classic a week ago in Greensboro. You had Mike Brey from Notre Dame, Duke assistant Chris Collins and former Duke player and assistant coach Tommy Amaker (now at Harvard) with courtside seats to see the likes of 6-10 Christ School junior Mason Plumlee -- brother of 6-11 Stanford commit Miles Plumlee -- and Forsyth Country Day 8th-grader Tyler Lewis. Hey, it's never too early to ID good raw talent.

Scout.com recruiting guru Dave Telep is convinced Northern Guilford freshman Jacob Lawson is the real deal, and might even be back playing at the coliseum some day with an ACC team.

"Oh, yeah," Telep said. "He's 6-6 now and has a live body."

Lots of upside, in other words.

Lawson and the Nighthawks finally play a home game in their new gym Tuesday night vs Northeast -- well, we're about 99% sure the gym will be open for business after several delays.

A couple other notables on hand last week at the coliseum: Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt and a former Tar Heel, Scott Cherry, who is now a top assistant at Western Kentucky. When UNC fans last saw Cherry, he was doing a little celebration dance in front of the George Mason bench alongside Jim Larranaga after their 2nd-round upset of the Heels in Dayton in '06

So it's about time we find out the last time an area school had both its varsity boys and girls basketball teams get through a season undefeated. If you hadn't noticed, Graham is threatening to run the table on the boys and girls side. The 16-0 Graham boys, who are laying waste to the overmatched Mid-State 1-A/2-A conference, are holding at No. 5 in this week's Mighty Nine -- Greensboro Day, Dudley, Ragsdale and Trinity simply aren't showing signs of faltering -- while the 16-0 Red Devil girls have slid up to No. 3 ahead of Bishop McGuinness, no slight intended toward the Villains, who played two national-level programs in three days in Ohio. Graham is just looking so dominant right now.

Another interesting shift in the boys poll? Stan Kowalewski's baby Nighthawks have jumped into the rankings at No. 9, coming off a competitive loss to Mount Zion at the coliseum and lopsided conference wins over BY and Western Alamance. It was a gutty win at Northeast Guilford 3 weeks ago that had me seriously considering Northern as a legit top area team. Now the Hawks will put their new-found ranking on the line Tuesday night against the Rams in the school's true home opener. Expect emotions, and the competive juices, to be running high in that one.

Here are the new Mighty Nine polls, which you can read in more detail in tomorrow's News & Record:

MIGHTY NINE BOYS
School / Record / LW* ... 1. Greensboro Day / 22-2 / 1 ... 2. Dudley / 14-2 / 2 ... 3. Ragsdale / 16-2 / 3 ... 4. Trinity / 18-1 / 4 ... 5. Graham / 16-0 / 5 ... 6. Thomasville / 11-1 / 7 ... 7. Grimsley / 14-3 / 6 ... 8. Andrews / 12-4 / 9 ... 9. Northern Guilford / 11-6 / NR.
Dropped out: Asheboro (8). *_last week’s ranking

MIGHTY NINE GIRLS
School / Record / LW* ... 1. Grimsley / 18-0 / 1 ... 2. Northwest Guilford / 16-2 / 2 ... 3. Graham / 16-0 / 5 ... 4. Bishop McGuinness / 14-5 / 3 ... 5. Southeast Guilford / 16-4 / 7 ... 6. Ragsdale / 14-3 / 4 ... 7. Page / 14-3 / 6 ... 8. East Davidson / 16-2 / 8 ... 9. Dudley / 11-4 / 9.
Dropped out: None. *-- Last week’s ranking

A couple more quick thoughts on the girls rankings ...
* It's dangerous to be in the 7-9 range given the quality teams that are lurking just outside the poll. Such as: Glenn (13-3), Eastern Guilford (14-3, winners of 7 straight), Thomasville (11-3), Wesleyan (16-5 if my math is right), not to mention solid Triad 3-A rivals Northeast Guilford and Rockingham County.
* After dismantling a very good Northwest Guilford team Friday night, it's hard to envision Grimsley losing a game this year before seeing either Wakefield or Hillside in the 4-A finals unless a) the Whirlies turn in a very flat effort somewhere along the way or b) run into a very hot team that handles defensive ball pressure very well.